My Worst Nightmare
by Coseepo
Summary: <html><head></head>Working in a hospital, you get used to seeing people die. But how will JD cope when his four closest friends teeter on the brink? Rated T for safety.  OC - I can't just have JD, can I? -, AU, No slash NOW COMPLETE.</html>
1. Chapter 1

**Second Scrubs fic! If you're looking for a lot of Scrubs stuff, this will have at least three spin-offs; an AU, a sequel, and a different viewpoint – and none are necessary to read! Anywho, I figured seeing as it's usually JD who gets hurt in these, I'd mix it up a little.**

**Enjoy…!**

JD walked down the pavement, hands in pockets. He wore jeans and a jacket. It was his day off. In fact, he, Turk, Carla, Elliot and even Dr. Cox were off work. So the five of them had spent the time in the usual bar.

After JD had bought his 10th appletini with Turk's money, Carla had made him go home to get his own wallet.

JD had been reluctant to go, as Dr. Cox had only just been convinced to sit at their table, but then he realised if he wanted another drink at all that day, he'd have to pay for it himself.

He reached his front door, fumbled his keys, and opened the door. Where was his wallet? His gaze travelled carefully over the coffee table.

_Ah, there it is._

He moved over, picked it up and flicked it open.

_1, 2, 3… 10 dollars? That it? _

**CLANG.**

JD whipped around.

_A ninja skulked through the shadows. Closer… closer… until he was right behind JD… now all he had to do was –_

"NO!" JD through himself to the ground, and looked up furtively. No ninjas. Rowdy had fallen over.

JD stood and righted the fallen dog. "Sorry Rowdy, I can't play with you right now. I've got somewhere to be. See you, boy!"

His journey back to the bar was… odd, somehow. Sure, the bar was the only building area, but you would usually see someone around. Now the streets were deserted.

He reached the bar with a sense of foreboding. He paused just outside the door, listening. The normal babble of talking and laughing against the music in the background.

Reassured, JD reached out and laid a hand on the doorknob. He applied pressure. The door moved. JD took a step forward.

And that was when it happened.

While JD stood just below the doorway, his hand began to vibrate. Everything vibrated. Over at JD's friend's table, Dr. Cox looked up.

"Earthquake," he muttered. Then he shouted: "Everyone get under the tables!"

Something fell from the ceiling; a light. Somebody screamed. People began to move. Turk, Carla and Elliot caught sight of him almost simultaneously. They hesitated. Instinctively, JD moved towards them. Dr. Cox reappeared from under the table, pulling the others down. He saw JD.

"Newbie! Get back under the doorway!"

JD turned around clumsily and returned to where he had been before. Not fast enough. A clump of something fell from the ceiling and connected with his skull. It was only plaster, but it was enough to knock JD out.

**So, any thoughts on the first chapter? :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry this took so long. The next few will be sooner, I'm typing them up right now. Enjoy this chap :)**

* * *

><p>JD put his hand to his head. No physical damage at least. He moved his hand in front of his eyes. Vision was fine too. He'd live.<p>

_Wait, why am I on my back…?_

JD was certain he had fallen forwards.

He sat up. "Oh God."

The entire bar had been reduced to a pile of rubble. Two men were standing on the stones, looking for survivors. JD guessed that it was they who had moved him.

He moved over to join them. Some of the rubble pieces were huge. He began work.

He could see the men better from here. They were both young; one looked to be mid-twenties. The other was only a teenager.

Both had taken off their shirts, but their skin still glistened with sweat with the exertion.

The older one noticed JD.

"Are you sure you should be doing this?" he called, still shifting debris. "You were unconscious. Maybe you should lie down."

JD waved his point away. "I'm a doctor, I know what my body can take."

Now the man did pause. "A doctor?"

* * *

><p>"We've done as much as we know how, but I'm guessing you could do better."<p>

JD regarded his patient. He vaguely recognised him as a regular at the bar.

"I don't know what I can do without equipment, but I'll do my best."

The man nodded.

"Have you called an ambulance?"

"No. None of us had mobiles. But we've sent someone for help."

JD felt for his own phone. It was still at the apartment. _Damn._

"I just hope there's an ambulance available," the man continued. "It was a pretty big earthquake. They might all be busy."

"Nah. This place is pretty secluded. It's probably the only place affected." He took off his jacket. "You should go back and help your friend."

JD's patient was unconscious, but had apparently been awake when he was found. After a quick examination, JD guessed that this man had at least two broken ribs on his right hand side.

The men who were doing the rescuing had put him into the recovery position lying on his left side. Worried that the man would have difficulty breathing, JD rolled him so that he lay on his injured side, leaving his good side as free as possible.

He then carefully felt under the man's shirt for any signs of internal bleeding, even if there was nothing he could do for it.

When JD had finished and done all he could, he stayed by the patient's side in case he woke up, until:

"Doctor!"

He ran over, and took the new patient from the arms of the teenager.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes and three patients later, the hideous wailing of ambulance sirens was music to JD's ears. Somewhere in the distance was the sound of a fire engine too.<p>

Still, JD did not stop until a paramedic pulled him away. She was a women of about 35, with a kind, round face. She gave him a blanket that he wore around his shoulders, and asked him questions, like who he was, what medical experience he had, if he knew anyone in the bar. When he said that he was a doctor, she asked to see some ID. JD showed her, his eyes trained on the movement of survivors from the rubble the whole time.

When the woman was satisfied, she let him go. It was beginning to get dark, and all sorts of people had turned up now. Sitting at one side, JD noticed the young men who had been there first, taking a break. He moved over and joined them.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"You two alright?"

The older one glanced at his companion. "As alright as we could be, I guess."

JD sat down. "You know," he said, "it's funny. The four people that make up nearly my entire life were in there, but I can't bring myself to help anymore."

"I know how you feel. Our parents are in there. Still no sign of them."

_Our?_

"You two brothers?"

"Yeah."

There was a pause.

"What's your name?"

"James. James Long. This is Chris."

"JD. Nice to meet you… I just wish they were better circumstances."

"Yeah. Well."

They watched the work some more.

"Your girlfriend in there, then?" asked James.

"No. The girl I love, my best friend, his wife, and my mentor are in there."

-Pause-

"So how old are your parents?"

Before James had time to answer, a sudden frantic burst of diggers from one of the rescuers caught their attention.

"He's found someone," muttered JD, getting up.

The man's face lit up. "Docto-"

The familiar call was cut short. A hush of realisation smothered them.

"Oh God." JD began to move forwards. "Someone's dead."

His walk turned to a jog, his jog to a run, until he reached the scene. He caught sight of the body.

_Thank God._

Relief washed over him, but something about the young woman worried him.

And then he realised.

This woman, the first that had been found dead had been standing right next to his friends' table when it happened.

* * *

><p><strong>Please R and R, I get such a high from those.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Another long wait for a very short chapter, I'm afraid. I'll be going on holiday for three weeks on the 24****th****, so I'll try to post another, long-is one before then. **

JD dropped weakly to his knees and began to dig furtively through the wreckage. A second later, his hand brushed against skin. He jumped, and almost cried out, but it was just James, come to help. It was truly dark now, so Chris stood there too, gripping a torch.

"You know her?" asked James.

"No." JD was surprised to hear that he was panting. "She was standing next to them though."

They worked in silence for a few more minutes. Then:

"JD…here."

JD turned his head towards the sound. James was pulling rocks away from a pile of small pieces. From the pile protruded a single, deep brown hand.

"Turk..."

JD joined the dig. One huge piece of ceiling came into view below the stones, maybe five metres wide. JD's heart could have stopped. He looked at James, who nodded with a grim kind of determination. Together, they lifted the slab.

Underneath, a table lay, the surface crushed and splintered. Turk's arm led underneath. JD paused, sitting back on his haunches. He knew that every second counted right now, but he was reluctant to continue, to find out the fate of his friends.

Luckily, James wasn't.

He heaved the table out from its little crater.

"Doctor!"

Two paramedics came forward. JD sat, utterly frozen, as if time had stopped. This was what he could see:

Turk was slumped against the rubble, head lolling, one arm where they had seen it before, crushed, the other around Carla's shoulders. Carla too was slumped unconscious, leaning against Turk. A cut on her forehead had dripped blood all down her face, but it was not bleeding anymore. Beside them, Elliot lay on the floor, eyes closed

The image stayed in front of his eyes, even as the paramedics rearranged it. He blinked. Real-time and real-life gripped him again, just in time to see Turk being the first to be carried off.

"Turk…"

He climbed down carefully into the pit and lifted Carla up to James, followed by Elliot. Only then did he remember Dr. Cox.

**Again, sorry it's short, but I really wanted to end it there. R & R?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the longish one! Might even get a few more in.**

* * *

><p>JD looked around the edges of the pit. And there, directly across from him, he saw it.<p>

A familiar white sneaker.

"Dr. Cox!"

He ran over, tripped half way, and lay on his stomach, pulling the rubble away.

"Dr. Cox!" he called again. "Dr. Cox!"

Suddenly James was there too, as was another man and a paramedic. All of them were digging, but there were so many heavy pieces, and it was taking so long and the earthquake was so many hours ago, it seemed futile.

But they did not give up.

After what seemed like hours, Dr. Cox's entire being was uncovered.

"No…"

JD tried to follow as they whisked him back to the ambulance, but James held him back.

"If I were you, I would go home now. Get some rest. Check back on them tomorrow when you go to work."

JD stood there for a moment longer, staring after the paramedics. The: "Yeah. Yeah, I will. Thanks."

* * *

><p>JD didn't sleep at all that night. He tried once, but he was haunted by nightmares, filled with screaming. At one point, he could have sworn that he heard Turk's voice calling 'Vanilla Bear'.<p>

He then spent the rest of the evening listening for the phone, or his pager, in case something happened.

Nothing did.

At long last, morning light broke his tedium. He rose from beneath his sweat-soaked covers and showered. Still hours his until his shift began. For something to do, he made breakfast, but he didn't eat it. Eventually, he just decided to go in early.

After all, the hospital had just lost four members of staff.

When JD arrived at the hospital, the first thing he saw was James, who was sleeping in the waiting room. JD hesitated, then went over and shook him awake.

"Hey, James. Are your parents alright?"

"Hmm…?" James twisted in the plastic seat and looked at JD. "Oh, hey. My parents? No, they're fine. Turns out they had already left. Actually, I was waiting for you."

"…Why?"

James stretched, and looked at him squarely. "Seriously. Your four closest friends were just in an accident. I figured you'd be pretty torn up. And you wouldn't even have anyone to turn to."

JD, touched, nodded wordlessly, and wandered over to the Nurses' Station.

"Can you please tell me which doctors are looking after patients Elliot Reid, Carla Espinosa, Percival Cox and Christopher Turk?"

The nurse clicked a button for each name.

"You are," she said, shortly. She handed him the charts.

JD stared blankly at the little metal clipboards in front of him, then back at the nurse. She raised an eyebrow at him.

Dazedly, he drifted through the corridors to the group of rooms that contained his friends. Something in the back of his head was speaking to him, telling him that this was wrong. His brain was too detached. But even the voice was not able to register in his consciousness. _Drift… drift…_

"JD…?"

The sound of Turk's voice snapped JD's mind back into place. He had reached Turk's room. And Turk was awake.

"SCB!" JD embraced his friend.

Turk gave a small smile. "How are the others?" Turk's voice seemed distant.

JD focused his mind. "Fine… Except…"

"Dr. Cox?"

"Yeah."

"He responds to voices?"

This seemed like a very odd question. "I, uh…" JD checked his charts. "He was turfed to surgery when he got in. As far as I can tell he's still there."

Turk settled himself in the covers. "Am I alright?"

JD looked at his charts again. "You're fine. You're arm got pretty cracked, but it'll heal. You should stay here a while to let it heal up a bit. We also need to check you for concussion and lung damage… I'll do that later. Just rest now, okay buddy?"

"'Kay. But only if you promise to check up on Carla for me."

* * *

><p>JD shut the door carefully behind him. Carla was still unconscious, but the cut on her head had been stitched up. It seemed odd to see her there, her strong features lax and pale, her olive skin simultaneously offset and amplified by the sterile white covers.<p>

He looked again at her chart. She hadn't woken up since she had been submitted. Which meant he had concussion. Which meant she would be confused when she did wake up. Which meant JD would have to be there.

He sighed, then turned and left. He was sure he had time to check on Elliot first.

* * *

><p>Elliot, also awake, smiled weakly as he entered. "Hey…"<p>

JD sat down on the edge of her bed and tenderly stroked her hand. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine. The others…?"

"We don't really know yet. We just have to wait."

"Oh… JD… I just…"

"It's okay. Rest now."

He got up and gently kissed her forehead. Then he left.

* * *

><p><em>One Hour Later<em>

JD sat dazedly in the tiny plastic chair in Carla's room. It was so _quiet._ All four patients were his, so few other doctors passed. There was only the whir of the machines, the hum of the air conditioning and the distant tweet of the birds outside. JD wanted to throttle those birds. How dare they be tweeting when everything was so screwed up?

Carla made a small noise, and JD sat up, attentive. She was rousing.

She sat up quickly, eyes wide. "Turk?" Her voice was scared, fearful. "Turk?"

"Hey, it's okay…" JD soothed, gently attempting to press her shoulders back to the bed.

"JD…?" Carla's dark eyes focused on him, confused and moist.

"Lie down, Carla."

Carla lay down. "Where's Turk?"

"He's next door. And he's fine. Carla, I want you just to rest for a while. You're concussed."

Carla pulled up the covers that had fallen when she sat. "…What happened, Bambi?" she asked in a tremulous voice. "Why are you here?"

"Earthquake," JD choked. He didn't understand why he suddenly felt like crying.

Carla did not ask any more questions. In fact, she fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Pretty please with sugar on top Review!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Yay! Another one!**

* * *

><p>"…He has…? When? …Okay, thank you." JD put down the phone.<p>

"What's up?"

JD jumped, and turned around. "I thought you'd gone home, James."

James, leaning against the wall, watching him, raised an eyebrow.

JD sighed. "It's Dr. Cox. He's up in intensive care, under another doctor. No one knew that I didn't know… I've gotta go see him."

James straightened up, and smiled kindly. "I'll come too."

They walked along the corridors. As they wandered through the busier areas, people moved out of their way or gave JD sympathetic looks. This annoyed him. This annoyed him a lot.

At last they reached the ICU. JD hesitated outside the door. Dr. Cox… his father-figure. His guardian. His mentor. His friend. Broken and dying. No… no, he couldn't see Dr. Cox like that. He turned to go, but James caught at his sleeve, opened the door and pulled JD inside.

It was busy but quiet on the intensive care ward. Over in a corner was Dr. Cox's bed, but JD only knew this after an orderly had pointed it out; at a distance, everyone looked the same beneath an oxygen mask.

He walked over, trying his hardest to look straight ahead. It was not until he reached the he cracked and looked down.

Dr. Cox. His friend. His hero. Lying there, beneath the tubes and doo-dads he couldn't even remember the name of just then. More broken and more dying then he had predicted. That didn't even make sense.

His head swam fiercely.

"JD?"

James' voice seemed faraway, and echoed as if from a deep cave. JD couldn't tear his eyes away from Dr. Cox's closed lids. It felt for a second like he was falling, but the image before him did not move.

"JD… J-JD!"

JD blinked. The image snapped into a new one, like it had just after his friends had been uncovered. The falling sensation had been real; his body was completely limp, apart from his neck which kept him looking at Dr. Cox. He was supported completely by James, gripping him tightly by the forearm, just below the elbow. His back leant slightly on James' chest. How had he not noticed?

JD pulled away angrily. Why had that just happened? He was a doctor. He had been a doctor for years. He had seen patients in states much worse than this, watched them die. Was close to some of them too.

A young doctor came over, her hair the same style and colour as Elliot's. When she spoke, her voice was like Elliot's too. Perhaps he was imagining it. He missed her so much…

"…came in a day or so ago. Are you his doctor?"

JD croaked. His throat was too dry. He couldn't talk at all. Then, swallowing hard, he managed to rasp: "I… yes."

The woman gave a curt nod. "Mmm. Well, I'm sorry to say that he doesn't have much of a chance. He was hit directly – seems it didn't occur to him to take cover. He has a cracked skull with a possible blood clot on the brain, three broken ribs and a collapsed lung. But all that is on his chart."

JD's mouth opened, noiselessly.

_He was hit directly – seems it didn't occur to him to take cover._

It _had _occurred to him, though. He had only emerged to tell JD to get back. _This was his fault._

"Dr…Reid? Are you alright?"

JD stared at her. "What?"

"I asked if you were alright, Dr. Dorian."

JD shook his head, trying to clear it. "I… yes, I'm fine."

But as 'fine' as he was, he was out of the ICU in five minutes.

* * *

><p>James found him in one of the store cupboards. He was crouched in the back, his head in his hands. As James walked in, closing the door behind him, JD leant back, his head resting on a shelf, staring at the ceiling.<p>

"JD."

JD didn't move. "I haven't been in here in years." His voice was flat. Dead.

James came over and sat down next to him.

"I had to get out of there, James. I couldn't… I can't…" He shook his head. "They're not like normal patients, you know? They're my friends. And I can't treat them in the same way I'd treat normal patients."

"You can't?"

JD turned his head slowly to the side, until he was looking directly at James. And then, in a weak, desperate voice, he breathed "No."

"Then you shouldn't have to… I'll ask one of the nurses if they can change the doctors and -"

"No!" His voice sounded more desperate than he had intended it to, but he didn't care. "No. I… I don't want some random doctor looking after them. It would have to be someone I could trust.

James resettled himself. "Then tell me who you do trust."

JD sighed. "Just ask them to get the best -" He stopped short. He had been about to say 'The best doctor in the hospital', but then remembered that that doctor was unconscious in the ICU.

"Ask them to get the best doctor available on it."

* * *

><p><strong>R &amp; R please!<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm back! Hooray! Slightly worried at how the pace of this story is hurrying ahead of itself though. I'll try to slow it down a bit, but I might not be successful.**

* * *

><p>"So… Mrs Meer. What seems to be the problem?"<p>

It was JD's first day back working with patients. So far… it wasn't going well.

He hadn't been in the hospital for half an hour, and he had already hid in four cupboards, a bathroom, and each of his friends' rooms (but not the ICU).

Mrs Meer's mouth moved, but no sound came out. JD ruefully abandoned his thoughts and focused.

"I'm sorry Mrs Meer, what did you say?"

Again, her mouth moved. Again, no sound came out.

Confused, JD looked down at her chart. The lines and words moved across the page, too fast to read. They moved so that they formed an image of Carla, Turk and Elliot sitting in a line on cafeteria chairs. He cried out and threw the chart away from him. He heard it clatter to the floor, but still he could not hear Mrs Meer, who was talking again. In fact there was suddenly a whole load of people around him, all talking, all silent. His instincts told him to run. He did.

He fled down the corridor, not stopping until he was outside his friends' rooms. He doubled over, panting hard. He could hear himself fine. He went into Turk's room, but he was sleeping.

"Turk… Turk, wake up."

He shook him gently. Turk opened his eyes.

"Mmm…? Is it time for the examination?"

Examination? _Why hadn't his new doctor given him the examination yet?_

"Who's your new doctor?"

"What new doctor?"

JD cursed under his breath and stormed out, crashing straight into the person entering. He hit the floor with a thud.

* * *

><p>JD sat up. It was James.<p>

"JD, what the hell was that?" He sounded annoyed.

"Sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going."

James sighed, and pulled JD up. "I meant before. With your patient."

JD shifted uncomfortably. "That…? That was nothing. I just… wanted to see Turk, was all."

James looked at him oddly. "Then why come here?"

"What?"

"JD… your friends are upstairs."

JD looked back at the room. He and James were alone in the room.

"I… I think I need to go home.

* * *

><p>JD sat on the sofa, head down, gripping his hair. He could feel himself shaking.<p>

He _had_ seen Turk. Had spoken to him. He _knew_ he had.

Maybe James had knocked him unconscious when they collided. Maybe he carried him downstairs into that empty room. Yes. That was it. James was out to get him. James wanted to mess him up. James started the earthquake. He didn't get JD then, so now he was screwing with his head. And then, when he was bored of that, he was gonna kill him.

There was a knock at the door. "JD? Are you in there? It's James."

_Ah. Think of the Devil… and a devil he was, too. With horns._

It was perhaps symbolic of JD's distress that he did not launch into a daydream.

"Wait just a second, James." JD's voice was shaking almost as much as he was. "I'm just coming to the door."

He did. But he stopped at the kitchen first. He wasn't going to let this man get him. He was going to protect himself and his friends. He took up the sharpest knife he could find and headed towards the door.

* * *

><p><strong>R &amp; R and I will be your BFF. Or not. Whatever.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Next chapter :D The next one should be pretty good. This one's a bit meh.**

"Ah JD. And how are we feeling today?"

JD stared very hard out of the window. He did not answer.

"JD. Please answer me."

"I want to see my friends."

The psychiatrist sighed. "For the last time. You are bound from the hospital grounds until you can convince me that you are ready to safely return."

JD looked at the floor. "Still depressed," he said, at last. "But I really think seeing my friends would help that."

"Hmm." The psychiatrist leafed through his papers. "Ah. Maybe it will cheer you up to hear that your friend James has been checked out of the hospital. It seems his wounds were superficial."

JD scowled. "They would have been deeper if he wasn't so damn fast."

"They wouldn't have been there at all if he had just run away, rather than try to get the knife off you and calm you down. He is a good man."

"He's not good. He tried to kill me."

"He has assured me that he didn't JD," smiled the psychiatrist. "Now. Are you still having nightmares?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me something about them?"

JD looked at the floor again. "They're the same as before. Except…"

"Yes?"

"Except… except, sometimes when I'm awake, everything goes black, and I hear them then too." When he looked up, the psychiatrist was smiling once more.

"I think it may be time indeed for you to visit your friends. I will arrange for an escort. If you do well, you may not have to come and see me again."

JD stared at him, open-mouthed. "Doctor… I… Thank you so –"

"But know this, JD. Your mental condition is going to get a lot worse. Don't worry, though; it's a good sign. Goodbye, JD."

,,,

The young doctor fidgeted in the back seat of the taxi. At last. It had been three weeks since he had seen any of his friends. He hadn't heard anything bad about them, so he assumed that they were alright. But then, James had been in the hospital with them for so long, and no one else believed that he was evil.

"Could you go a little faster, please?"

The taxi driver did not react.

"Don't worry Newbie, you'll get there."

JD turned his head sharply towards the voice. Across from him was his escort, a large muscular man, ready to grab him if he made any more assaults.

But it was not him who had spoken.

Sitting between JD and his escort, in the back of a Californian cab, was a very translucent Dr. Cox. Slowly, very slowly, he leant towards his protégé.

"Newbie. _Get out while you can._"

"Dr. Cox?"

Dr. Cox disappeared.

JD felt his breath catch in his throat. The escort was watching him. He realised his mouth was open, and that he was shaking.

He closed his mouth. He steadied himself.

And he tried not to scream out loud.

**Please R&R. Reviews are like my drug.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this took so long, it was my birthday and I was playing with mah prezzies :) Incidentally, this chapter is a bit weird and disjointed… don't worry, it's meant to be.**

* * *

><p>The reception of the hospital. Yes. Good. If he could just get through this he would be fine. Right. Just need to…<p>

_No! Not now!_

But it was too late. JD's world was darkness. Somewhere in the distance, there was a faint beeping sound. Again, he seemed able to hear his friends calling his name. He tried desperately to block them out, to keep hold of his sanity. He felt it pass. He realised that his eyes were shut, and opened them.

Somehow he had staggered to his friends' corridor in his delirium.

He blinked. He was in Turk's room.

He blinked again. Elliot's room.

Blink.

Carla's room.

Blink.

Dr Cox.

Blink.

The corridor again.

The beeping was getting louder.

"JD."

"You…" JD's voice shook even more than him. He couldn't see James anywhere.

in the city. Our parents are going home tonight, and I'm kind of thinking of going with them."

"Where are you…"

Still the beeping was become louder, though he was still the same distance from his friends.

"Well… goodbye…"

JD started. "No, James!"

There was the sound of a door slamming, and then silence except for the beeping. A silence that did not belong in a hospital.

Dizzily, JD turned around searching. And then…

-

Oh God it was loud, it was unbearably loud.

…….

JD clamped hands over his ears. All his friends were flat lining at once. That didn't even make sense. And where were all the other doctors? Why was no one else coming?

…….

Ah Hell, he had to make a decision. He had to decide or they might all die. But… who. WHO COULD HE CHOOSE?

……

Crap, crap, crap, crap. What could he… how… nngh...

He couldn't do it.

JD turned and ran. He ran to the end of the corridor and through a door and up the stairs. He didn't know where he was going, but he guessed it was the roof.

The temperature didn't change as he burst through the door outside. He doubled over, hands on his knees, panting hard. The beeping had resumed, heavy in his ears.

Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…

He shook his head. The sound didn't leave. He moved to the edge of the roof and looked over. A tear dripped from his cheek to the car park below. He quickly brushed the remaining water from his eyes and stood, trying to sort everything out in his mind.

Behind him there was a sound of people running through the roof door and slowing to a stop.

"Newbie."

He whipped around. Dr. Cox and Turk stood panting, looking at him intently.

"Dr. Cox?"

"Newbie, please…" he steadied himself, controlling his panting, "please don't do this."

Turk nodded in agreement. "Come on, JD. You gotta get out now. This is your last chance.

"Turk…"

"Come on, Newbie."

"Please, Vanilla Bear…"

JD didn't understand. He looked from one to the other. They were both fine, both in their own clothes.

"Nngh…" JD suddenly felt faint, really, really faint. He took a staggered step backwards.

"NO!" Both Turk and Dr Cox lunged forwards, but it was too late.

JD had fallen off the edge of the hospital.

* * *

><p><strong>R&amp;R, or YOU'LL NEVER FIND OUT IF HE LIVES! Muahahahhaha.<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Iiiiiit's the big finale! It didn't come out as well as I had hoped, though :(**

* * *

><p>JD slowly opened his eyes. He was in Sacred Heart. He was in a hospital bed. And he was <em>alive<em>.

Dr Cox, who had been standing at the end of his bed, watching expectantly, sighed with relief and smiled.

"Welcome back, there, sleeping beauty," he said. "Gotta say, I'm glad to see ya."

JD smiled back. Turk was standing next to Dr Cox with Carla, and Elliot was sitting in a chair close to his head.

"You're all okay…" muttered JD, sleepily. He looked around the room some more. Behind his friends, on another chair near the door, was someone else he knew.

"James?"

Everyone turned to look at James, then back to JD.

"What?" asked Carla.

JD was equally confused. "James," he repeated, gesturing towards him. "James Long. Him."

James looked uncertainly up at JD's friends. Then: "How do you know my name?"

_Now really, this is getting ridiculous._ "Why wouldn't I know your name?"

Turk looked worriedly at Dr. Cox, who nodded in reply. He crouched down so that his head was level with JD's at the other end of the bed.

"JD," he said quietly, in his most fatherly voice. "Do you remember what happened?"

Everyone was looking at him again, but this time not with happiness. He squirmed uncomfortably. "Well yeah, I… I think…" Dr. Cox's glare made him doubt himself. He swallowed hard. He did remember. "I fell off the hospital, right?"

Turk opened his mouth to say something, but Dr. Cox shot out a hand to silence him.

"Alright, Newbie. What about before that? Do you remember anything about an earthquake?"

JD nodded earnestly, but then stopped, because it hurt. Flinching a little, he said: "Sure, I remember the earthquake. On our day off. At the bar."

Dr. Cox sighed and stood up. "Well. You're half right."

Turk nodded. "There was an earthquake on that day. But it wasn't at the bar."

"Where was it then?" asked JD.

"At our apartment."

A memory forced itself into JD's mind, the memory of a daydream about a ninja. And the cause…

"Rowdy fell over..." muttered JD, realisation dawning. "Wait." His mind began to work furiously. Rowdy had fallen over in the earthquake. Shortly after that, the earthquake at the bar didn't happen. Which meant… "The… the earthquake happened… while I was there?"

Everyone in the room nodded. Nothing over the last few days actually happened.

"James," he said suddenly, making everyone jump. James looked up. "You were there. You were the first person there after the earthquake."

James looked surprised. "…Yes."

"And… and at some point, you told me about you, and your family."

Everyone was still looking at James. He seemed a lot more nervous in this universe to JD's.

"Just after your friends arrived from the bar, there was a second tremor, got stuck in a little air pocket for a while… with you. And there wasn't anything really else to do."

* * *

><p>JD was discharged six weeks later. He learnt what had happened – the earthquake at the apartment, James sticking around to ensure his recover, the point where he would either wake up then or never wake up – and what had not happened. By comparing notes with his friends, he worked out just how much of it had been real though. He remembered how the first conversation with Turk after he had woken up had been odd – the real Turk had been, at that very moment, having the exact same conversation with Dr. Cox about him. He remembered the time the nurse in the ICU had called him Dr. Reid, and sounded the same as Elliot. And he also remembered how his communications with 'the real world' had become more frequent just before he woke up.<p>

Not that it mattered now, of course. He was back at work, and hanging out with Turk and James, who had decided to stay after all, when he was off.

Everything that had happened over those few days had just been a bad dream, a nightmare.

_My Worst Nightmare_, he thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for sticking around until the end. Feel free to re-read; the ENTIRELY SUBTLE list in the penultimate paragraph there is just a small amount of the clues. Most 'conversations' JD has can happen in the real world too. I'm hoping to write a sequel at some point, so keep an eye out for 'My New Friend'. Thanks to all my reviewers!<strong>


End file.
